Media/Jr freedom & ethics (BLOG 1)

Media can be said as a communication tool between government and citizen. Government need media to spread out the information to the public to get them know well about what's going on in their country (like politics, economic, education or others) and thus media play an important role in it.

 In Malaysia, due to the ownership of the media and regulation to control the media by government, there is almost no freedom for the media. They have to follow what their boss (owner which is government) said, and is obviously has been censored and filtered some issues by government. And also, it brings difficulty for the journalist as they are merely a part of the government’s propaganda machines and not professionals performing their duties to the best of their abilities. This situation also makes it hard for the citizens to exercise their rights to information and the right to make informed choices (Wang L. K 2001).

For example, there is a case happened last year about a Suara Wanita 1 Malaysia (SW1M) president, Sharifah Zohra snatching the microphone away from a university student, Bawani KS by creating comical Internet memes, songs and even dance remix versions of the video. Printed media that owned by government had covered some of the issue that might effected the government's image, it shows that the owner has the power to decide on the scope and the content to publish.

Reference:
http://www.google.com.my/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcijmalaysia.org%2Fminiportal%2Fdownload%2F1%2F&ei=dOanU_bMNc2C8gXAnIHIAQ&usg=AFQjCNE3khK26z49e2SSYp_BiISCUDwr5g&sig2=wPN71p_2PXc2vvxZ1cW5nQ&bvm=bv.69411363,d.dGc
 http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/uum-forum-was-to-indoctrinate-students-says-girl-told-to-listen

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS - MONDAY 2ND JUNE

We will be discussing some questions posted on this blog.

1.In what ways can we know about Malaysia when there are restrictions over what can be published on the web? (Ana Corea)
2.Do you feel that your local news media sources are informative and objective enough? or do you need to look at reliable sources elsewhere in the media?(Monica Lagos)
3. What type of information is published in Malaysia that proves that there has been an attempt against national security?(JuanFer Almendares)
4. Do you feel that the Malaysian media is cautious or docile in nature which prevents them from questioning difficult issues?Why? (Sharon Wilson)

(B1) Change in Circulation

In this week's lecture, one of the topics discussed by Dr Sharon was change in circulation and readership to hits and alerts.

Nowadays, many youngsters do not read newspapers as they turn to social media and online for daily news. In addition to social networking, Facebook and Twitter are one of the sources for Malaysians to acquire news. Me personally, I acquire my daily news from Twitter and then only through the newspaper. For the newspaper companies to maintain their readership, they have no choice but to introduce online subscription i.e. the printed edition is also available online.

Malaysian youngsters turn to social media for news because they felt that social media provides a faster alert to news, which fulfills Malaysians 'need to know first' attitude. This causes the social media penetration in Malaysia to increase steadily.

http://blog.malaysia-asia.my/2013/09/malaysia-social-media-statistics.html
http://www.alt.com.my/news/2010-2011-global-social-media-statistics/
http://www.digitalmalaysia.my/2013/06/malaysia-social-media-week-2012-vs-2013-the-number-games/
http://tourismandnewmedia.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/malaysia-and-digital-media/

Freedom & Ethics. (Blog 1)

This week's lesson in journalism class reminded me of one of my favourite band member's (Kellin Quinn from Sleeping With Sirens) tweet that was posted last year in December that said "Freedom of speech should go hand in hand with restraint. Just because you have the right, doesn't mean you should say everything you think.".

I think that the control of the media yields both good and bad outcomes.

Good in a manner where people will not abuse their right to publish certain matters (because let's face it, there are people who post up some pretty illogical and baseless statements that serve no purpose) that may cause unrest amongst the public. Bad in a manner where most (if not all) laws and Acts that govern the publication of content in the media are partial to the government.

Personally, I think the government may have gone overboard with the restrictions and exceptions as there have been recorded proof on the amendments of said laws and Acts that occurred at the most convenient of times (for them, I mean), and there are obvious exceptions to said laws by news agencies that are under the government that have published some racial remarks and got away with it.

I think journalists – partial or impartial to the government – should always remain objective in their field. They also ought to be discreet and maintain a degree of respect to whoever they are writing about regardless of it being positive or negative news. Libel should be avoided especially if the journalist has something against the person he or she is writing about because it is unethical and therefore, unacceptable.



Sources :

> http://books.google.com.my/books?id=XKyP-8XwuIoC&pg=PA249&dq=ownership,+control+and+malaysian+media&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QyuHU4maM4-48gXMmoHYBg&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ownership%2C%20control%20and%20malaysian%20media&f=false
> http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/Pilihan_Raya/20130507/px_03/Apa-lagi-orang-Cina-mahu
> https://twitter.com/Kellinquinn/status/414266947975397376

Blog 1 Media Control in Malaysia.

Hello everyone. Today I'm going to talk something about Media Control in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, the mainstream media is control by some political parties and heavily regulated by government. Some private sector and company also control few media such as BERJAYA company. This company own some of the media. These private sector and political parties control the media by limiting what they present out what information  to let citizen to know about what happen. For example, what happen these days is the MH370 plane crash. The government and political parties control and limit the news to let citizens know. The media company such as radio station, newspaper, television channel, astro channel always report the news that their owner want them to report. For example, the MH370 airplane news is con trol by the goverment. The citizen only know the news the goverment want them to know. Apart from that,The Utusan  Melayu Group, which is owned by UMNO, publishes three Malay language dailies and has strong ties to former Prime Minister Mahathir’s party. The major English newspaper, The Star and New Straits Times (NST) is also owned by the political parties. The Star is owned by MCA and New Straits Times is owned by UMNO. Besides The Star newspaper, MCA also controls four other significant media press companies – Sin Chew Jit Poh, Nanyang Siang Pau, China Press, and Guang Ming Daily.


Reference :http://mediainmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/11/ownership-of-traditional-media-by.html

Gatekeeping in media, Malaysia (Blog 1)

Most of the news in Malaysia are being filtered in the process known as gatekeeping and this is done by the government in order to broadcast only favourable news to the government and the news has the heaviest censorship. The content of the news is usually altered to broadcast the good deed by the government and unfavourable news to the government are either toned down or heavily censored. The news tend to broadcast what they want us to know and not what we suppose to know. As the news has filtered the audience will not obtain accurate content from the original source.

To give an example of censorship in our country, in the event of MH370, local news channel broadcast only the loss of the airplane and the searching process, but they ignore contents that are unfavourable and often criticize the lack of government response as broadcast in other countries such as China and Taiwan where talks about the Malaysia government inability and lack of devotion of resources to solve the problem of MH370 are prevalent.

In our channel and newspaper, we only obtain news that the government want the audience to have for the airplane and has become the only platform where government spread the news to us. Other views unfavourable to the government are largely ignored and unreported. Therefore, Malaysia media freedom is heavily constrained and this is known as media pressure.

B1 Media Freedom and Ethics

Media is probably the most efficient way for the people of a country to get to know about what had happened inside and outside of their country. In some ways, it could also be a path of communication in between the government and the people.

In my opinion, most of the media and journalism in Malaysia are mature enough. They willing to take any price in order to provide the real and latest news to the people. Of course the negativity of government could also be publish. As a result, media is being restricted. They were forbidded to publish only the news that the government wish us to see. Under the pressure by the government, media  press and journalists had no choice but to obey in order to survive. As an example, Wong Ming Zhi, also known as Namewee, a talented singer, producer, and etc which was a Malaysian. He dare to compose videos which is related to the negative side of the Malaysia government and posted it on the youtube. He then gained a huge support from our fellows Malaysian. But in the end, he was caught by the police and was tortured by the government. But he never surrender and is still fighting against the government until now.

Many parts shows that the media and journalism in Malaysia are seriously repress by the government. But somehow there are still a few of them who are willing to fight against the government to publish those news that should be read by the Malaysian. Malaysia could be developed country, if only the media and journalism are freed.

Malaysia Media Restriction

We were searching on the internet about Malaysia press, and we found this article, where is said that the government restrains of what information will be published on the internet.

In what ways can we know about Malaysia, when there are restrictions over what can be published on the web?

http://cijmalaysia.org/2012/10/02/malaysia-slips-in-global-rankings-of-internet-freedom/

(B1) Path to Freedom of Press

According to the article I've read, it was mentioned that Honduras' newspapers are member of Inter American Press Association (IAPA). There were efforts by IAPA to promote press freedom across Honduras but there are still press laws to be adhered by Honduran journalists. Former President Flores pledged to free the limits on press freedom but it wasn't successful. Under previous governments, free press still remain unseen.

I was wondering under your current government, President Porfirio Lobo Sosa, is there any progress for a freer press?

Besides that, are there any measures taken by your government to protect the journalists from being attacked and ensure the safety of the press especially after the incident of the murder of journalist Aníbal Barrow?


www.pressreference.com/Gu-Ku/Honduras.html
http://www.sipiapa.org/en/asamblea/honduras-124/
http://www.sipiapa.org/en/sip/about-iapa/

(B1) Media & Journalism Freedom

In general, news is the information about recent happenings and events. News is a “powerful questionable art form” that needs to be analysed. (Philosopher and author Alain de Botton, 2014)

Malaysia’s press freedom remained restricted and is getting more and more limited indeed. According to the World Press Freedom Index 2014, Malaysia fall and land at 147^th spot from it’s previous 124^th position. MALAYSIA's rank in World Press Freedom Index 2014

Malaysia has some of the toughest censorship laws in the world. The government is intense to protect the mainly the Muslim population from foreign influences. Kissing scenes and cleavages were censored, swearing and sex scenes were removed. There was an incident in 2012, where the government received negative reaction towards censoring an article concerning the 2012 Bersih 3.0 rally. Astro Malaysia, a Malaysian satellite television received complaints and was asked for explanation by BBC for doctoring up its news about the Bersih 3.0 rally. Astro responded that they were trying to comply with local content rule. It somehow violated the ethics code in term of doctoring the news sources. 

Malaysia news sources are informative but not informative and objective enough. The above incident is a good reference. It is always better to look up to other news sources to know more about some other’s opinions on the subject or topic from different point of views. Online news from different countries is always a good option to seek for more extra and complete information. While news from social media such as facebook and twitter are also informative but not reliable as it was not filtered and spam are burgeoning, there are also chance that social media being used as a tool to spread information to achieve some kind of purpose. In society around 1950s and 1960's, traditional medium, newspaper is their only way to know what is happening around them and as they were not well educated, they will just blindly believe what they have received from the newspaper. Newspaper is a one sided medium and it is controlled by the government. Therefore, it might not covered the entire story of the incident and somehow, there are some newspaper who speaks for the government, the news reported is sometimes bias and sided to the government. Malaysia media's is both cautious and docile due to the rules and regulation we have. The government has surpresed the media making us to see only the good side of it and otherwise has been swept under the carpet. In order to survive in the media industry, media can only act in the way that the government want it to be. 









Sources:
> http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-worse-than-myanmar-in-world-press-freedom-index
> http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/04/bbc-signals-outrage-over-malaysian-censorship-of-bersih-3-0-coverage-exclusive/
> http://www.aljazeera.com/aboutus/2006/11/2008525185733692771.html
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMPnplExls8&feature=youtu.be

Answers to Media in Malaysia

To answer the questions below:

Do you feel that your local news sources are informative and objective enough? or do you need to look for reliable news sources elsewhere ie social media? What type of information is published in Malaysia that proves that there has been an attempt against national security?

In terms of local news sources, most sources are official and this is given during press conferences. The idea of objectivity is subjective. It depends on the beat and the influence of the beat. If it is politics then most times, objectivity is questionable. Journalists look for sources everywhere. More so today with the advent of social media. They always use facebook and twitter as a lead not as a solid source of information. The Malaysian media is influenced by the laws and regulation and the various sensitivities (race and religion) but this is becoming more open now. National security in Malaysia has always revolved around the issue of race and religion which sometimes can lead to a threat to national security (The recent Allah issue where Allah according to Muslims in Malaysia should only be exclusively for Muslims and not for Christians and was discussed at a judiciary level. There were lots of outrage and some fanatism where various groups were attacking churches and christians). In terms of internet censorship, there hasn't been any yet but there were discussions that claimed there were going to be internet censorship but the government has realized that it is impossible to do so and so we have the Multimedia and Communications act which in some ways monitors everything that is published and if it is in any way threatening national security then it comes under legal action.

Question about Malaysian Press

  Do you feel that your nocal news sources are informative and objective enough? or do you need to look for reliable news sources elsewhere ie social media?

source
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/putrajaya-has-no-regard-for-free-speech-hence-the-drop-in-press-freedom-ran

Hi, me and a couple of friends where researching about journalism in Malaysia, we found out  that there is a law that is censoring the content of media on the internet, we where kind of curious about this and have a couple of questions regarding this subject:
Has there ever been registered some case of filtering of information regarding National security from Malaysia so that the government has reasons to  get to this instance?
What type of information is published in Malaysia that proves that there has been an attempt against national security?
We look forward to your answer thanks a lot.

PS. Sorry the news is in spanish we couldn't find it in english
http://www.ipsnoticias.net/2011/02/periodismo-malasia-la-censura-llega-a-internet/

free speech

¿Does it exist any social movement against the censorship of free speech?

Honduran´s Press

History

Honduras journalism begins when the first journal called "La Gaceta" was founded in May 25, 1830.
At that time La Gaceta was the official government newspaper, and currently it only works for the National Congress publishing when new decrees are approved.
To this date  La Prensa, El Tiempo, La Tribuna, and El Heraldo are most influent newspapers in Honduras.

Every 25th of may we commemorate the Journalist day.

The earliest school of journalism was created in 1965 at the "Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras". According to "Journalism in the Shadows of Impunity" this is one of the most dangerous careers in the country, but this event not only happens in Honduras but also in many other countries in Latin America and through all the world.

Work Cited

http://www.latribuna.hn/2012/05/28/el-periodismo-en-honduras/

http://colegiodeperiodistasdehonduras.hn/ippweb/historia.htmç

http://www.elheraldo.hn/csp/mediapool/sites/ElHeraldo/Vida/story.csp?cid=597554&sid=296&fid=220

Welcome

Welcome everybody.This blog is a platform for students in Honduras and Malaysia to discuss issues and exchange ideas on the lecture topics. It is a very important venue for everyone to learn, understand and accept how the the media and the communities in each other's countries function. We may have differences and yet we may have similarities. Based on the topics feel free to share videos, images, readings from urls ect but please make sure it is attributed.Good luck and all the best!

Media in Malaysia -Summary of Lecture

Today we learnt about the Media in Malaysia. There were a couple of things that was mentioned:
1) Media systems
2) control and ownership - based on state owned, GLC owned, political party owned and privately owned
3)The radical change in the media esp. in the press -  reformation rally 1998 - change in how people use and consume information and the emergence of social media
4) Change in circulation and readership to hits and alerts - speed of information sent to audience
5) Journalism - reporters without borders, press freedom is compromised through the use of regulation and the need for press freedom.
6) Journalists in Malaysia - credibility and the need to tell the truth but are 'handcuffed' by (5)
7) Gatekeeping, watchdogs and agenda setting.